'Sherlock' Martin Freeman interview: 'I'm happy to avoid comedy'

Sherlock returns to BBC One on New Year's Day with the first of three new adventures, and we've got a string of interviews coming up with the cast of series two! Keep your eyes peeled over the coming days for chats with Andrew Scott (Jim Moriarty), Lara Pulver (Irene Adler) and, of course, Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock).

But we're kicking off with Sherlock's loyal companion, John Watson - a.k.a. actor Martin Freeman! Speaking to Digital Spy and a few other journalists during a break in filming, Martin dropped hints about what to expect from series two and revealed how it felt to return to Sherlock after spending some time in Middle Earth...

Was it daunting returning to Sherlock after the massive success of series one?"I'm certainly not consciously analysing it, [but] you can't stop your brain thinking what it thinks. I've been in that situation before - coming back to a second series of something, when in the interim it's gone f**king mad.

"I think where that's helpful is not to be complacent and to make sure that you're actually still doing your job. As opposed to coasting on the success of Sherlock, we want to make it better.

"It's a very good idea not to read reviews, because for better or for worse, you can end up 'playing the review'. But I have [read them] - that's why I'm awful in the second series!

"I didn't actively seek [reviews] out, but we've all got an ego and if you know people are saying really nice things about you, you tend to open your ears. But I wasn't maniacal about hunting down everything, because most actors hunt down the bad stuff - you want to know who thinks you're a pr*ck!"

Watson takes the lead in the original Hound of the Baskervilles - is that the same in your version?"Not to the same extent. So much of [the original story] is Watson running the show - or at least, he's the man on the ground. But no, that's not the same. Sherlock is still leading that investigation, hands-on, with Watson at his side."

Watson is traditionally played for laughs. Is that something you've been keen to avoid?"Yeah, I'm always very happy to avoid that. When I was at youth theatre and drama school, I never thought people would mistake me for a stand-up. A lot of people still think I'm a stand-up or that I have [a comedy] background.

"That was never the plan at all. I like being funny - I like making people laugh and I like people making me laugh - but that was never the reason I wanted to get into acting. [Although] it's part of it, because all of my favorite films and plays have both [comedy and drama] in.

"But I'm always erring on the side of not doing it [for laughs]. Sometimes wrongly and it'll need to be pointed out to me! I will always be resisting it, because if I don't resist [comedy], I will just do it, knee-jerk."

So you must have been thrilled to win the BAFTA for 'Best Supporting Actor'..."It was lovely, I was really, really pleased to win it. I keep forgetting I've got it and then look at my sideboard! So I genuinely love the fact that I won it, yeah. But again, it's an award [but] no-one really gives a f**k. It doesn't change anything.

"I'd love to think that meant that people now take me seriously in a different way, but I don't think it necessarily does. I just think it meant I was good in this show. But it's still supportive. Best actor in a bumbling role!"

He's not so bumbling in Sherlock, though..."Totally, yeah. Steven [Moffat] and Mark [Gatiss] treated him with absolute respect. He was the audience's eyes in Doyle's stories - he was the root into it. I think when you're concentrating on an almost superhuman personality like Holmes, who has a talent that most people don't have, you need the audience's reaction somewhere in the room."

How does Sherlock and John's relationship change in series two?"I guess it's just familiarity. Like any friendship or marriage, familiarity breeds more contempt, and love, and everything. We're just more settled with each other now. That does sound very much like a marriage!

"People liked a lot of things about [the show] but that relationship was definitely one of the things that people liked. It's very gratifying for us as actors, but the writers… they wrote it. It's like when people say to me, 'I love what you've done with this John Watson - the way you've made him more of an hero' - I didn't write it!

"But [the writers] wanted that relationship there, and it's brilliantly written. We [actors] have to come in and make that be, but when the writing's good, that's a big part of the battle won."

Where does John fit into the Sherlock / Moriarty dynamic?"I have to be smart enough as an actor to knew where my place is, and when Sherlock and Moriarty are on screen together, that's their thing! As it is, the writers have been so good to John. In the climax of the first series at the swimming pool, yeah, all the stuff is happening between Moriarty and Sherlock, but John is absolutely a presence there. That scene couldn't have happened without him there.

"[But] I've not really been on set yet with Andrew [this series] - a lot of it isn't with me in the room, between Moriarty and Sherlock this time. But again, they're fantastic scenes and they are scenes that people like, understandably.

"[Andrew and Benedict are] both brilliant at playing them, they're brilliantly written and they're two of the most iconic characters in English literature. And now, for people who weren't familiar with Conan Doyle, they're becoming iconic television characters."

Are you surprised by how well Sherlock fits the modern day?"Well, obviously it's very important to be respectful to Conan Doyle, but you can be too reverential. That was 130 years ago and it's not made for telly - it's not made for now. We have to make our own thing out of it.

"Fortunately, Mark and Steven are so embroiled in the world of Conan Doyle that they don't even need to think about it anymore. Conan Doyle feels very present in the writing just because he's present in them, as writers. But it gets boring if you have to be tied to that world. Obviously, Conan Doyle deserves concrete respect, but this isn't his show - it is Mark and Steven's show."

How did it feel coming back to the show after filming on The Hobbit?"Coming back from doing The Hobbit, you think Sherlock is realistic, but of course, it's not that realistic. It's still a heightened world. Compared to Middle Earth, it's Nil By Mouth! But it's not quite Mike Leigh! Sometimes it feels like you're in a graphic novel, which is fine by me."

You've played a number of iconic roles - John Watson, Bilbo Baggins, Arthur Dent..."I'm very proud of all of that. It is a weird thing at the moment to be Bilbo Baggins and John Watson. I can't deny that it's quite strange. I never think about it, but when it's put like that, I think 'Christ, that is odd'. They are iconic roles, but it's all accidental and it's all happenstance. I certainly don't think there's a casting director somewhere going, 'How do we get Martin the iconic roles?'..."